Method and apparatus for performing initial access procedure for low cost user equipment in wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for performing an initial access procedure in a wireless communication system is provided. A low cost user equipment (UE) transmits a list of capabilities to a network, and receives a reject message from the network when at least one of the capabilities is not supported by the network. The list of capabilities may be transmitted during a random access procedure via a random access preamble on a physical random access channel (PRACH) or a lmessage 3 on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The reject message may be received during the random access procedure a random access response or an acknowledge message for the message 3.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 ofInternational Application No. PCT/KR2015/010034, filed on Sep. 23, 2015,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Applications No. 62/054,377filed on Sep. 23, 2014, No. 62/058,707 filed on Oct. 2, 2014, No.62/076,465 filed on Nov. 6, 2014, No. 62/153,495 filed on Apr. 27, 2015,and No. 62/161,214 filed on May 13, 2015, the contents of which are allhereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to wireless communications, and moreparticularly, to a method and apparatus for performing an initial accessprocedure to handle a low cost user equipment (UE) in a wirelesscommunication system.

Related Art

3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) is atechnology for enabling high-speed packet communications. Many schemeshave been proposed for the LTE objective including those that aim toreduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand andimprove coverage and system capacity. The 3GPP LTE requires reduced costper bit, increased service availability, flexible use of a frequencyband, a simple structure, an open interface, and adequate powerconsumption of a terminal as an upper-level requirement.

In the future versions of the LTE-A, it has been considered to configurelow-cost/low-end (or, low-complexity) user equipments (UEs) focusing onthe data communication, such as meter reading, water level measurement,use of security camera, vending machine inventory report, etc. Forconvenience, these UEs may be called machine type communication (MTC)UEs. Since MTC UEs have small amount of transmission data and haveoccasional uplink data transmission/downlink data reception, it isefficient to reduce the cost and battery consumption of the UE accordingto a low data rate. Specifically, the cost and battery consumption ofthe UE may be reduced by decreasing radio frequency (RF)/basebandcomplexity of the MTC UE significantly by making the operating frequencybandwidth of the MTC UE smaller.

When a MTC UEs are introduced, a new feature for an initial accessprocess may be required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for performing aninitial access procedure to handle a low cost user equipment (UE) in awireless communication system. The present invention discusses how tocreate/handle a UE with limited radio frequency (RF) capability toreceive downlink data successfully serviced by a wideband systembandwidth network. The present invention particularly focuses on theinitial access procedure.

In an aspect, a method for performing, by a low cost user equipment(UE), an initial access procedure in a wireless communication system isprovided. The method includes transmitting a list of capabilities to anetwork, and receiving a reject message from the network when at leastone of the capabilities is not supported by the network.

In another aspect, a low cost user equipment (UE) includes a memory, atransceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver,and configured to control the transceiver to transmit a list ofcapabilities to a network, and control the transceiver receive a rejectmessage from the network when at least one of the capabilities is notsupported by the network.

Initial access procedure for a low cost UE can be performed efficiently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 shows structure of a radio frame of 3GPP LTE.

FIG. 3 shows a resource grid for one downlink slot.

FIG. 4 shows structure of a downlink subframe.

FIG. 5 shows structure of an uplink subframe.

FIG. 6 shows an overall procedure of initial access according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of frequency location of PRACHs according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an example of PRACH configurations for FDM/TDM among CElevels according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a current RAR.

FIG. 10 shows an example a timing diagram according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 11 shows an example of timing and narrow-band fortransmission/reception for an initial access procedure according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for performing an initial accessprocedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows an example of cross-subframe scheduling and other timingin FDD according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for signaling usable DL subframesfor a low cost UE according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a wireless communication system to implement an embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Techniques, apparatus and systems described herein may be used invarious wireless access technologies such as code division multipleaccess (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA),etc. The CDMA may be implemented with a radio technology such asuniversal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. The TDMA may beimplemented with a radio technology such as global system for mobilecommunications (GSM)/general packet radio service (GPRS)/enhanced datarates for GSM evolution (EDGE). The OFDMA may be implemented with aradio technology such as institute of electrical and electronicsengineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802-20,evolved-UTRA (E-UTRA) etc. The UTRA is a part of a universal mobiletelecommunication system (UMTS). 3rd generation partnership project(3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) is a part of an evolved-UMTS (E-UMTS)using the E-UTRA. The 3GPP LTE employs the OFDMA in downlink (DL) andemploys the SC-FDMA in uplink (UL). LTE-advance (LTE-A) is an evolutionof the 3GPP LTE. For clarity, this application focuses on the 3GPPLTE/LTE-A. However, technical features of the present invention are notlimited thereto.

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system. The wireless communicationsystem includes at least one evolved NodeB (eNB) 11. Respective eNBs 11provide a communication service to particular geographical areas 15 a,15 b, and 15 c (which are generally called cells). Each cell may bedivided into a plurality of areas (which are called sectors). A userequipment (UE) 12 may be fixed or mobile and may be referred to by othernames such as mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), user terminal(UT), subscriber station (SS), wireless device, personal digitalassistant (PDA), wireless modem, handheld device. The eNB 11 generallyrefers to a fixed station that communicates with the UE 12 and may becalled by other names such as base station (BS), base transceiver system(BTS), access point (AP), etc.

In general, a UE belongs to one cell, and the cell to which a UE belongsis called a serving cell. An eNB providing a communication service tothe serving cell is called a serving eNB. The wireless communicationsystem is a cellular system, so a different cell adjacent to the servingcell exists. The different cell adjacent to the serving cell is called aneighbor cell. An eNB providing a communication service to the neighborcell is called a neighbor eNB. The serving cell and the neighbor cellare relatively determined based on a UE.

This technique can be used for DL or UL. In general, DL refers tocommunication from the eNB 11 to the UE 12, and UL refers tocommunication from the UE 12 to 30 the eNB 11. In DL, a transmitter maybe part of the eNB 11 and a receiver may be part of the UE 12. In UL, atransmitter may be part of the UE 12 and a receiver may be part of theeNB 11.

The wireless communication system may be any one of a multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) system, a multiple-input single-output (MISO)system, a single-input single-output (SISO) system, and a single-inputmultiple-output (SIMO) system. The MIMO system uses a plurality oftransmission antennas and a plurality of reception antennas. The MISOsystem uses a plurality of transmission antennas and a single receptionantenna. The SISO system uses a single transmission antenna and a singlereception antenna. The SIMO system uses a single transmission antennaand a plurality of reception antennas. Hereinafter, a transmissionantenna refers to a physical or logical antenna used for transmitting asignal or a stream, and a reception antenna refers to a physical orlogical antenna used for receiving a signal or a stream.

FIG. 2 shows structure of a radio frame of 3GPP LTE. Referring to FIG. 2, a radio frame includes 10 subframes. A subframe includes two slots intime domain. A time for transmitting one subframe is defined as atransmission time interval (TTI). For example, one subframe may have alength of 1 ms, and one slot may have a length of 0.5 ms. One slotincludes a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) symbols in time domain. Since the 3GPP LTE uses the OFDMA in theDL, the OFDM symbol is for representing one symbol period. The OFDMsymbols may be called by other names depending on a multiple-accessscheme. For example, when SC-FDMA is in use as a UL multi-access scheme,the OFDM symbols may be called SC-FDMA symbols. A resource block (RB) isa resource allocation unit, and includes a plurality of contiguoussubcarriers in one slot. The structure of the radio frame is shown forexemplary purposes only. Thus, the number of subframes included in theradio frame or the number of slots included in the subframe or thenumber of OFDM symbols included in the slot may be modified in variousmanners.

The wireless communication system may be divided into a frequencydivision duplex (FDD) scheme and a time division duplex (TDD) scheme.According to the FDD scheme, UL transmission and DL transmission aremade at different frequency bands. According to the TDD scheme, ULtransmission and DL transmission are made during different periods oftime at the same frequency band. A channel response of the TDD scheme issubstantially reciprocal. This means that a DL channel response and a ULchannel response are almost the same in a given frequency band. Thus,the TDD-based wireless communication system is advantageous in that theDL channel response can be obtained from the UL channel response. In theTDD scheme, the entire frequency band is time-divided for UL and DLtransmissions, so a DL transmission by the eNB and a UL transmission bythe UE cannot be simultaneously performed. In a TDD system in which a ULtransmission and a DL transmission are discriminated in units ofsubframes, the UL transmission and the DL transmission are performed indifferent subframes.

FIG. 3 shows a resource grid for one downlink slot. Referring to FIG. 3, a DL slot includes a plurality of OFDM symbols in time domain. It isdescribed herein that one DL slot includes 7 OFDM symbols, and one RBincludes 12 subcarriers in frequency domain as an example. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. Each element on the resourcegrid is referred to as a resource element (RE). One RB includes 12×7resource elements. The number NDL of RBs included in the DL slot dependson a DL transmit bandwidth. The structure of a UL slot may be same asthat of the DL slot. The number of OFDM symbols and the number ofsubcarriers may vary depending on the length of a CP, frequency spacing,etc. For example, in case of a normal cyclic prefix (CP), the number ofOFDM symbols is 7, and in case of an extended CP, the number of OFDMsymbols is 6. One of 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1536, and 2048 may beselectively used as the number of subcarriers in one OFDM symbol.

FIG. 4 shows structure of a downlink subframe. Referring to FIG. 4 , amaximum of three OFDM symbols located in a front portion of a first slotwithin a subframe correspond to a control region to be assigned with acontrol channel The remaining OFDM symbols correspond to a data regionto be assigned with a physical downlink shared chancel (PDSCH). Examplesof DL control channels used in the 3GPP LTE includes a physical controlformat indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH), a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicatorchannel (PHICH), etc. The PCFICH is transmitted at a first OFDM symbolof a subframe and carries information regarding the number of OFDMsymbols used for transmission of control channels within the subframe.The PHICH is a response of UL transmission and carries a HARQacknowledgment (ACK)/non-acknowledgment (NACK) signal. Controlinformation transmitted through the PDCCH is referred to as downlinkcontrol information (DCI). The DCI includes UL or DL schedulinginformation or includes a UL transmit (TX) power control command forarbitrary UE groups.

The PDCCH may carry a transport format and a resource allocation of adownlink shared channel (DL-SCH), resource allocation information of anuplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information on a paging channel(PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, a resource allocation of anupper-layer control message such as a random access response transmittedon the PDSCH, a set of TX power control commands on individual UEswithin an arbitrary UE group, a TX power control command, activation ofa voice over IP (VoIP), etc. A plurality of PDCCHs can be transmittedwithin a control region. The UE can monitor the plurality of PDCCHs. ThePDCCH is transmitted on an aggregation of one or several consecutivecontrol channel elements (CCEs). The CCE is a logical allocation unitused to provide the PDCCH with a coding rate based on a state of a radiochannel. The CCE corresponds to a plurality of resource element groups.

A format of the PDCCH and the number of bits of the available PDCCH aredetermined according to a correlation between the number of CCEs and thecoding rate provided by the CCEs. The eNB determines a PDCCH formataccording to a DCI to be transmitted to the UE, and attaches a cyclicredundancy check (CRC) to control information. The CRC is scrambled witha unique identifier (referred to as a radio network temporary identifier(RNTI)) according to an owner or usage of the PDCCH. If the PDCCH is fora specific UE, a unique identifier (e.g., cell-RNTI (C-RNTI)) of the UEmay be scrambled to the CRC. Alternatively, if the PDCCH is for a pagingmessage, a paging indicator identifier (e.g., paging-RNTI (P-RNTI)) maybe scrambled to the CRC. If the PDCCH is for system information (morespecifically, a system information block (SIB) to be described below), asystem information identifier and a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI)may be scrambled to the CRC. To indicate a random access response thatis a response for transmission of a random access preamble of the UE, arandom access-RNTI (RA-RNTI) may be scrambled to the CRC.

FIG. 5 shows structure of an uplink subframe. Referring to FIG. 5 , a ULsubframe can be divided in a frequency domain into a control region anda data region. The control region is allocated with a physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) for carrying UL control information. The dataregion is allocated with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) forcarrying user data. When indicated by a higher layer, the UE may supporta simultaneous transmission of the PUSCH and the PUCCH. The PUCCH forone UE is allocated to an RB pair in a subframe. RBs belonging to the RBpair occupy different subcarriers in respective two slots. This iscalled that the RB pair allocated to the PUCCH is frequency-hopped in aslot boundary. This is said that the pair of RBs allocated to the PUCCHis frequency-hopped at the slot boundary. The UE can obtain a frequencydiversity gain by transmitting UL control information through differentsubcarriers according to time.

UL control information transmitted on the PUCCH may include a HARQACK/NACK, a channel quality indicator (CQI) indicating the state of a DLchannel, a scheduling request (SR), and the like. The PUSCH is mapped toa UL-SCH, a transport channel. UL data transmitted on the PUSCH may be atransport block, a data block for the UL-SCH transmitted during the TTI.The transport block may be user information. Or, the UL data may bemultiplexed data. The multiplexed data may be data obtained bymultiplexing the transport block for the UL-SCH and control information.For example, control information multiplexed to data may include a CQI,a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), an HARQ, a rank indicator (RI), orthe like. Or the UL data may include only control information.

In the current LTE specification, all UEs shall support maximum 20 MHzsystem bandwidth, which requires baseband processing capability tosupport 20 MHz bandwidth. To reduce hardware cost and battery power ofthe UE used for machine type communication (MTC), reducing bandwidth isa very attractive option. To enable narrow-band MTC UEs, the current LTEspecification shall be changed to allow narrow-band UE category. If theserving cell has small system bandwidth (smaller than or equal tobandwidth that narrow-band UE can support), the UE can attach based onthe current LTE specification.

Hereinafter, a method for performing an initial access procedure tohandle a MTC UE according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. Hereinafter, all of a MTC UE, a low cost UE, a low end UE, alow complexity UE, a narrow(er) band UE, a small(er) band UE, or a newcategory UE may be used mixed with each other. Or, just UE may refer oneof UEs described above. In the description below, a case where systembandwidth of available cells is larger than bandwidth that new categorynarrow-band UEs can support may be assumed. For the new category UE, itmay be assumed that only one narrow-band is defined. In other words, allnarrow-band UE shall support the same narrow bandwidth smaller than 20MHz. It may be assumed that the narrow bandwidth is larger than 1.4 MHz(6 PRBs). However, the present invention can be applied to narrowerbandwidth less than 1.4 MHz as well (e.g. 200 kHz), without loss ofgenerality.

The followings may be assumed:

(1) Operating bandwidth of a UE may be known to the eNB. To informoperating bandwidth, multiple approaches may be proposed. It may beassumed that that before scheduling any PDSCH/PUSCH, the eNB knows theoperating bandwidth of a UE.

In the description below, operating bandwidth in terms of the number ofPRBs of a narrow-band UE is given as NRBDL_Op. It may be assumed thatoperating bandwidth is consistent for all narrow-band UEs within a cell.Also, UL transmission bandwidth of a narrow-band UE may be the same asthe DL operating bandwidth, i.e. NRBDL_Op In other words, UL (RF and)baseband can process only narrow-band as well.

(2) Operating bandwidth of a UE may be equal to or larger than 1.4 MHz(or 6RB), and thus, the UE is able to receive physical broadcast channel(PBCH)/primary synchronization signal (PSS)/secondary synchronizationsignal (SSS) transmitted over center 6RB of system frequency band.Otherwise, a new signal similar to PBCH/PSS/SSS may be transmitted tonarrower bandwidth. Even with supporting 1.4 MHz, it may be expectedthat a new signal for PBCH/PSS/SSS are considered to support a low costUE. In this case, the new signal may be called MTC-PBCH, MTC-PSS andMTC-SSS.

(3) The present invention may be applied two scenarios: (1) RF iscapable of receiving system bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) but baseband iscapable of processing only narrow-band, (2) both RF and baseband canhandle narrow bandwidth. If the first scenario is used, frequencyretuning delay is not considered. If the second scenario is used, tuningdelay to change frequency should be considered.

(4) This invention may assume that via RRC signaling (or other means)the UE is notified the number of symbols used for legacy PDCCH (sentover system bandwidth) after serving cell is established. At initialstage, upon receiving PBCH (i.e. discovering system bandwidth), thenarrow-band UE may configure the default value for the number of symbolsfor legacy PDCCH to the maximum symbol counts based on system bandwidth(e.g. three for NRBDL=100).

(5) The narrow-band UE may support only one LTE band and single radioaccess technology (RAT). However, it is not precluded to considerinter-RAT handover case for a low cost UE. Just for the simplicity, thisinvention may assume single-RAT supporting UE.

(6) As the narrow-band UE cannot decode legacy PDCCH, another controlchannel mechanism (such as enhanced PDCCH transmitted/multiplexed inPDSCH area) may be assumed for supporting narrow-band UEs.

It is assumed that the network may support larger than 1.4 MHz systembandwidth whereas a MTC UE may support only 1.4 MHz system bandwidth.Here, the system bandwidth from a UE perspective may be referred as RFbandwidth that a UE can support. The initial access procedure accordingto an embodiment of the present invention may need to be clarified asfollows.

(1) How does the UE know that the network supports a MTC UE: Consideringa MTC UE may have different capabilities, it is also required to knowwhich capabilities are supported by the network. For example, whetherthe network supports half-duplex FDD UEs or not may need to be informed.Earlier indication of network support on a certain feature may bedesirable to minimize the UE power consumption and the latency of cellassociation. One approach is to mandate a network to support allpossible low cost capabilities once it supports a low cost feature. Forexample, the network may support half duplex (HD)-FDD, UL powerreduction, reduced peak rate, etc. Another approach, to allow networkflexibility, is to allow the network signal a set of capabilities thatthe network supports so that a UE can make early decision to continuecell association process or not.

Another approach is to allow a UE to transmit a list of capabilitiesalong with physical random access channel (PRACH) and/or PUSCH message3, such that a network may transmit a reject message at radon accessresponse (RAR) and/or ACK for message 3, if any of capability is notsupported by the network. Additionally, the network may indicate a setof capabilities/supportability of certain features via masterinformation block (MIB) and/or SIB. It may be represented as a bitmapwhere each bit indicates whether a certain capability is supported ornot. For example, coverage enhancement (CE) levels may be represented asa few capabilities such as CE level 5 dB, CE level 10 dB, CE level 15 dBas a separate capability, respectively.

(2) How does the network know that there may be MTC UEs beforetransmitting MTC-SIB (or MTC-PBCH or MTC-synchronization signal (SS)):Since additional system information to support MTC UEs may not bedesirable if there is no MTC UE around, some indication of presence ofMTC UE may be desirable. To support this, a MTC UE may be able totransmit a request if it knows that the network supports a MTC UE (bymaintaining history of cell association or by other external means)without receiving any broadcast data for a while. This may be based onPRACH with a pre-allocated dedicated preamble. If such a mechanism orother means are not used, the network may transmit MTC-SIB with lessfrequency than SIBs for legacy UEs. The transmission frequency ofMTC-SIB may be predetermined based on system frame number (SFN)information which is assumed that a MTC UE can read by reading legacyPBCH as long as it knows the center frequency.

Another approach is to adapt the frequency of SIB transmission byindicating the frequency (or SI window) via MIB. If there are many MTCUEs, more frequent SIB transmission may be used to minimize the latency.If there are not many MTC UEs expected, less frequent SIB transmissionmay be considered. The change of SI window or the frequency of SIBtransmission may be indicated by SI update notification similar tocurrent mechanism to indicate SIB update (e.g. via paging) or by a newmechanism. Or, to avoid potential confusion, the frequency of SIB maychange in a predictable way, e g minimum SI window, 2*minimum SI window,4*minimum SI window, etc. Based on knowledge that a UE may acquire basedon MIB, a UE may expect SIB in a certain set of subframes.

(3) How does the network know a UE transmitted PRACH is a MTC UE: Sincea MTC UE cannot read PDCCH transmitted over the entire system bandwidth,the network needs to know the capability of the UE before transmittingRAR. For this, time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM) of PRACH may be considered such that the network canidentify whether the UE is a MTC UE or not. One example is to configurea separate set of PRACH resource for MTC UEs.

(4) How does the UE know that the network is available for camp-on:Similar to current mechanism, SIB may be used for access barring.Another approach to handle potential congestion or too many users at onetime, further consideration to transmit a reject message via RAR and/orACK-NACK for message 3 may be considered. Some fields in RAR may be setwith a predetermined set of values to indicate “REJECT”. One example isto set MCS as “4”. For ACK-NACK, some resource may be reserved to show“REJECT?. In terms of PHICH resource or enhanced PHICH (EPHICH)resource, two resource may be reserved where one resource is used forACK-NACK if the network can accept the UE and the other resource is usedfor ACK-NACK if the network cannot accept the UE. Similarly, SIB maycarry the information of cell access barring if the congestion occurs.

(5) How to compensate UL coverage if low power is used: First of all,assuming that the transmission power reduction is a UE capability, thenetwork may not know whether there will be any UE requiring UL CE ornot. From a UE perspective, it may also not know whether UL CE is neededor not before it measures reference signal received power (RSRP). Thus,when a UE detects a cell based on PSS/SSS, and or cell-specific RS (CRS)and/or PBCH, a UE may measure RSRP. Based on the difference betweennormal UE maximum power and its reduced power (e.g. 15 dB reduction),based on DL signal reception, the UE may estimate the needed UL CE. Ifthe UE determines that the UL CE is needed, it may search SIBinformation which indicates resource pool (e.g. PRACH resource pool)which may be used for CE (maybe separate resource pool for CE on both DLand UL and CE on UL, respectively). The identified resource may be usedto transmit repeated PRACH transmission. If there is no resourceidentified, the UE may assume that the network may not support reducedUL power. Thus, it may search a different cell. Alternatively, thenetwork may assume that all MTC UEs may need some UL CE depending ontheir location. Thus, the PRACH configuration may indicate PRACHresource which may be used for PRACH repletion as well. The number ofrepetitions may be determined based on the CE level required whichdepends on RSRP and reduced UL power.

FIG. 6 shows an overall procedure of initial access according to anembodiment of the present invention. In terms of transmission ofsignals, each step according to an embodiment of the present is asfollows.

(1) PSS/SSS detection (S100): Regarding PSS detection (S101), unlessmultiple subband may be configured for supporting many MTC UEs in awide-band system bandwidth or the network may utilize a set of 1.4 MHzcarriers, it is assumed that a MTC UE is able to read PSS shared withlegacy UE regardless of system bandwidth. Regarding SSS detection(S102), similar to PSS, the same SSS may be shared. If subband for a MTCUE (e.g. dedicated subband) is used, another SSS which indicates theindex of the dedicated subband may be transmitted. Since the UE needs toknow the system bandwidth to apply a subband, the information ofdedicated subband may be transmitted over SIB or PBCH instead of via SS

(2) RS detection/RSRP (S110): Based on RSRP, a UE may estimate the CElevel (e.g. for DL and UL, or for UL only) based on its capability ofmaximum power and the geometry, etc. If a new RS pattern or some powerboosting on RS is used for a MTC UE (such as the increased density ofCRS over 6 PRBs region), RSRP may be measured over those RS REs only.One example is to prefix a set of subframes which may be used for a MTCUE (regardless of multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN)configuration, or TDD DL/UL configuration). One example is to setsubframe #1 for DL in every radio frame used for a MTC UE in FDD andsubframe subframe #1 or #5 in TDD. To use special subframe #1effectively, a MTC UE may assume that the length of DwPTS is 11 (or 12)OFDM symbols in normal CP or 9 (or 10) OFDM symbols in extended CP. Thismeans that a MTC UE may not be able to utilize UL pilot time slot(UpPTS) due to the lack of switching, guard period. Thus, a MTC UE maynot be scheduled to transmit any UL in UpPTS (or not scheduled withPRACH in that UpPTS). In other words, regardless of DL pilot time slot(DwPTS) configuration, a MTC UE may assume the shorted guard period andthe network may transmit DL data in the long DwPTS region.

Also, for the simplicity, a common design between HD-FDD and TDD may bealso considered. If that is considered, special subframe will be usedfor guard period to switch from DL to UL. Also, from UL to DL, one DLsubframe may be allowed as not usable (same as HD-FDD). If this commondesign is used, HD-FDD may also operate by configuring any TDD DL/ULconfiguration. DL may be used by guard period only. So, for example, TDDDL/UL configuration 0 may not be supported. Also, TDD DL/ULconfiguration 1 seems not efficient to be supported. For example, forconfiguration 2 (DSUDDDSUDD), it may be interpreted as DXUXDDXUXD. AllHARQ-timing and ACK-NACK multiplexing may follow TDD configuration 2.The similar procedure may be applied to other TDD DL/UL configurations.

(3) PBCH detection for initial cell search (S120): Unless the networkassures that a MTC UE is associated with only center 6 PRBs and theresource allocation (RB assignment) is same as 1.4 MHz system bandwidthregardless of actual system bandwidth, the MTC UE may not need to knowthe system bandwidth. Otherwise, it may need to acquire systeminformation of the carrier. Also, SFN information is needed. Thus, it isassumed that a MTC UE reads legacy PBCH. Legacy PBCH may carryadditional information or separate MTC-PBCH or MTC-SIB may betransmitted to transmit any MTC related information such as the subbandlocation, PRACH configurations.

(4) RSRQ/RSRP for neighbor cell search (S130): Before determining whichcell is the best, the UE needs to know which cell supports a MTC UE ornot. To determine the network capability, additional SS may be used tojust indicate whether it supports a MTC UE or not. However, if theadditional signal is not considered, a UE may have to read up to SIB1before making the cell selection. It is however, a burden on the MTC UE.Thus, it is considerable to transmit a set of cell IDs support a MTC UEin prior. A UE may perform RSRQ/RSRP measurement on neighbor cells onlyon those preconfigured (or known by experience) cells that support lowcost capabilities.

(5) SIB detection (S140): Due to its narrow band nature, it is notstraightforward to share SIB between legacy and MTC UEs. Furthermore,the content may be different. Considering TDM or FDM multiplexing ofPRACH, it is also desirable to transmit a separate PRACH configurationfor MTC UEs. Thus, in general, a MTC UE may search a dedicated MTC-SIB.MTC-SIB may be transmitted in a predetermined subframe (for example,every 1st subframe of every 10 radio frames for SIB-1). The essentialinformation carried over SIB may include the location of MTC-dedicatedsubband (if it may be different from the center 6 PRBs), and PRACHconfiguration.

Once the UE reads PBCH and thus knows the system bandwidth, SIBtransmission location may be changed based on pre-determined hoppingpattern. Since a UE needs to access narrow-band control channel as well,if control channel and data are scheduled in the same subframe, it meansthat control channel frequency also changes based on predeterminedpattern. Alternatively, SIB may be transmitted without PDCCH. In thatcase, PDSCH for SIB alone (or a new channel similar to PBCH to carrySIB) may perform frequency hopping based on the predetermined pattern.For example, a cell-specific pattern may be determined based on subframeindex or radio frame index and cell ID and random number generation.More specifically, if a set of subband usable for MTC UEs arepredetermined, the hopping pattern may determine a subband index out ofpotential K subbands.

Since SIB may have multiple transmissions such as SIB-1 and SIB-2, etc.,assigning separate cell-specific hopping pattern may be a bittroublesome if there are multiple cell broadcast data. For example, RARmay also perform hopping. Thus, for a cell broadcast data,subframe-index or radio-frame-index based cell-common hopping may beconsidered. Regardless of which SIB or cell broadcast data istransmitted, in a subframe or radio frame, frequency based on hoppingpattern may be selected and used for data transmission. If controlsignal and data is transmitted in the same subframe, control signal mayalso hop based on the hopping pattern. Considering frequency retuningdelay to handle the different subband between cell-broadcast and unicastPDSCH/control region, a predetermine frequency switching latency such as200us may be fixed and a UE may use the first few symbols to handle thefrequency switching (e.g. legacy PDCCH region). If more gap is need, thelast symbol from the previous DL subframe may be used in addition to notlistening on legacy PDCCH region (mostly for CRS reading).

(6) PRACH transmission (S150): Similar to cell-broadcast data, acell-common PRACH hopping pattern may also be considered which may bedetermined based on subframe or radio frame index. The hopping patternitself may not address multiplexing issue among PRACHs of MTC UEs if alarge number of MTC UEs is accessing the cell. For that, similar to TDDPRACH configuration, FDM pattern may also be considered. In this case,PRACH resource may be determined based on the system bandwidth ratherthan 1.4 MHz. Similar to legacy PRACH configuration, an offset totransmit PRACH may be configured via SIB. By utilizing separate (e.g.TDM or FDM) between MTC and legacy UEs, the network may determine thecapability of the sender of PRACH. When considering TDM, differentpropagation delay may be considered. If a maximum propagation delay ofthe system is large, the gap between two PRACH source in terms ofsubframe used for a MTC UE and a legacy UE may have a sufficient gap(such that the overlap between two PRACH transmissions may not occur).One example of such a gap may be 1 TTI.

Also, the scheduling with PUSCH may need to be considered as well. Inother words, when PUSCH hopping is used, the PRACH subband for a MTC UEmay also hop to be aligned with PUSCH hopping pattern (and thus minimizethe collision with legacy UEs UL transmission). Thus, configuration ofPRACH hopping in terms of frequency may be further considered where thepattern may be determined based on PUSCH hopping pattern. In that case,PRACH hopping pattern may be determined per UL subband following PUSCHhopping pattern. Or, a new hopping pattern may be further considered. Tominimize the cell search efforts of a MTC UE, a network may signal alist of frequencies/cells which support a MTC UE (or preconfigured).

(7) RAR (S160): Considering coexistence between a UE which requires ULCE and UEs not requiring CE, the timing of RAR may become a bitchallenging. One way to mitigate this issue is to separately configure aPRACH resource pool for the number of repetitions or the CE level.However, this requires multiple configurations of PRACH, which requiresheavy configuration. Thus, a new design of PRACH may also be consideredwhere PRACH bandwidth is reduced to the lower number of PRBs (such as 1PRB) to allow more power concentrated on the PRB (i.e. power boosting).Another approach is to allow potential UL relay via another MTC UE or alegacy UE to address initial UL shortage. Another alternative approachis to use the worst repetition level if a MTC UE requires any UL CE.Based on the assumption that the network and UE may know the number ofsubframes used for a PRACH transmission, RAR timing may be determinedbased on the end of PRACH repetition. Similar to current timing, a UEmay wait to receive RAR at n+6th (assuming that n is the last PRACHrepetition transmission). Similar to current mechanism, a UE may waitRAR within a RAR window where a different RAR window configuration for aMTC UE (also considering CE level required) may be considered. Further,as described above, the RAR may indicate rejection of the initial accessprocedure due to, e.g. congestion, capability, etc.

(8) PUSCH (message 3) (S170) and ACK for message 3 (S180): The message 3may include UE capabilities such as power reduction (class), bandwidth(BW) reduction, etc. Based on the information carried over message 3,the network may determine whether it can support the MTC UE or not,which may be signaled via ACK-NACK for message 3. Transmitting UEcapabilities may be limited to only initial access. For PDCCH orderbased PRACH or other PRACH for SR, the message 3 may not contain UEcapabilities. PUSCH resource may be configured by RAR via resourceallocation. (E)PHICH resource may be determined by a hopping patternused for cell broadcast data. In other words, unless otherwiseindicated, a UE may search (E)PHICH in cell common.

However, to use this approach, (E)PHICH may need to carry for the entiresystem bandwidth as FDM on UL subbands is possible. Thus, it may beassumed that cell broadcast frequency may transmit (E)PHICH for message3. Once a UE-dedicated subband is configured via RAR or via RRC afterRACH procedure, a UE may expect (E) PHICH from that dedicated subbandsafterwards. In other words, ACK-NACK for message 3 may be transmittedvia cell broadcast region (or cell-common frequency subband), whereasother ACK-NACKs for other ULs may be transmitted via UE-dedicatedsubband (if configured). It is assumed that cell-common data may besearched in those frequencies only. In that case, a set of subframes forcell-specific search space (CSS) and UE-specific search space (USS) (orcell broadcast and unicast) may be preconfigured or higher layerconfigured such that a UE may read one or the other in a subframe.Alternatively, a UE may be higher layer indicated to read cell-commonsubband to update, e.g. SIB, or read other broadcast messages.

If a UE supports multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), it maybe supported over 6 PRBs which will be configured properly by MBMSconfiguration (and thus may need a new SIB to transmit MBMS relatedconfiguration/information). If a UE needs to read PSS/SSS or PBCH, a UEmay make autonomous gap. A UE may skip reading a first few OFDM symbolsbefore PSS/SSS and/or PBCH to create frequency tuning delay.Alternatively, a UE may be predetermined with a set of subframes whereCSS needs to be read.

Handling of frequency retuning delay according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is described. In case of half-duplex FDD or TDD,switching frequency or subband may require a gap to allow frequencyretuning as well as UL/DL or DL/UL switching time. To minimize the gap,frequency switching may occur only in case of UL/DL or DL/UL switching.To support it, a set of subframes may be preconfigured as gap, which maynot be used for DL or UL transmissions. This may be needed only when aUE may use different subband for DL and UL. If the DL and UL is the samesubcarrier, the frequency retuning latency may not be necessary. So, tomaximize the resource utilization from a UE perspective, it is desirableto use the same subband at least within a radio frame or within a set ofpredetermined period. The subband may be switched to different subband,then it may be used until the subband is changed again. If subband forUSS and CSS (or unicast and cell broadcast) is different, a UE may haveto jump between subband for CSS and USS. Since it may depend on the UEcondition to read which subframes read for CSS, a UE may createautonomous gap by not listening on DL or not transmitting UL wheneverneeded. Different from half-duplex FDD, autonomous gap may be createdeither for DL or UL.

Different UE capabilities and network flexibility according to anembodiment of the present invention is described. So far, it has beenimplicitly assumed that a MTC UE supports limited bandwidth. However,depending on its capabilities and application demands, there may be MTCUEs which may support wideband system bandwidth, yet, may have limitedUL power, etc. Thus, to handle such MTC UEs, a UE may access thewideband system by reading PBCH/SIBs (designed to support legacy UEs),and then, report its capabilities. However, for example, due to thelimited UL power, PRACH transmission from the UE may not be successful.In this case, some alternatives may be proposed as follows.

(1) Since such a UE associates with a cell supporting CE, this mayassume that a UE is normal UE or category 0 UE where only UL CE isneeded. Uplink coverage related PRACH configuration or information maybe assumed to be transmitted via legacy SIB.

(2) Since such a UE associates with a cell either supporting CE or lowcost, this may require that a UE should assume that the network, ifsupport low cost, supports CE. In this case, to read necessary systeminformation, the UE may find MTC-PBCH/MTC-SIB. If the network does notsupport reduced power, the UE may not be able to connect to the network.

(3) Such a UE may search either one (one by assuming normal or category0 UE with CE or MTC UE (e.g. category X) with CE.

(4) Regardless of the access mechanism, if the network knows that a UEsupports wideband, the information may be used for scheduling. In termsof UE capability, the following options may be considered.

-   -   A UE supports only low bandwidth both from RF and baseband        perspective    -   A UE supports low bandwidth only from baseband perspective        (while RF can support wide-band)    -   A UE supports wideband for baseband and RF

In case of second or third, the network may be able to schedule a UE viawideband PDCCH. In this case, a UE may not be required to implementMTC-PDCCH.

However, this may need to be known to the network before transmittingRAR. In general, if the UE does not require RF bandwidth reduction, itmay be treated same as Rel-12 category 0 UEs. If a UE can access Rel-12category 0 supporting network, it may also signal category 0 (if a newUE category is defined for a MTC UE in Rel-13) for fallback operation.

If MTC-PDCCH is introduced to support a MTC UE (which may support onlylimited bandwidth), it is desirable to also reduce the size ofMTC-PDCCH. Given a low size of packet for a MTC UE in general, it isworthwhile to consider multiplex MTC-PDCCH and MTC-PDSCH in a PRB. Oneexample is to assign one PRB (or a few PRBs) for MTC-PDCCH and theremaining REs not used for scheduling DCI for a PDSCH or UL grant may beused for PDSCH. Since it may cause the reliability issue, e.g. UL grant,a UE may not be able to detect UL grant and then rate matching iscorrupted. To avoid such a case, a network may indicate two fields “DLscheduling presence” “UL scheduling presence” in a predetermined set ofREs which indicates that there is DL scheduling (and PDSCH) and UL grantin the subframe. Depending on it, a UE may attempt to perform ratematching within a PRB.

Further, the UE may transmit a signal for at least one of the followingcapabilities.

-   -   DL bandwidth reduction (if enabled, support only 1.4 MHz or        lower)    -   UL bandwidth reduction (if enabled, support only 1.4 MHz or        lower)    -   UL maximum transmission power (UE power class)    -   Transmission mode (TM) reduction (which TMs are supported other        than already optional TMs such as TM10)    -   Coverage enhancements    -   Power reduction techniques (such as long discontinuous reception        (DRX), power saving mode, etc.)

When a UE supports support on wideband reception and thus it may beassociated to a network supporting category 0 UEs, it may signal thefallback UE category of category 0. If there is no new UE categorydefined to support new cost saving features, it is desirable todifferentiate the same category based on release. For example, if a UEsupport category 0 with features up to Rel-12, it may signalRel-12-Cat-0 and if the UE supports category 0 capabilities withfeatures up to Rel-13, it may signal Rel-13-Cat-0. When a UE supportsboth category 0, it may signal both Rel-12-Cat-0 and Rel-13-Cat-0. Evenif a new UE category is defined with UE complexity reductioncapabilities including potentially lower peak data rate, the UEsupporting category 0 may signal Cat-0 as a fallback to previous releasenetwork. In case of connection with mobility management entity (MME),the UE may signal its Rel-13 category as well as Rel-12 category in casethat MME may not be able to support Rel-13 network if it supportsRel-12-Cat-0. The meaning of supporting category 0 may imply at leastone of the followings.

-   -   Be able to read wideband signals such as PDCCH    -   Be able to access 1.4 MHz system bandwidth (support PDCCH-based        control channel and the associated SIB transmission, etc., as in        legacy system)    -   Transmission power reduction may not be used, or the reduced        power is marginal such as 3 dB    -   Peak data rate up to category 0 capability    -   CE may not be needed (this may not be so relevant in terms of        signaling aspects)

Furthermore, if a UE supports CE, at least one of the following featuresmay be mandated.

-   -   Handling of new SIB (if it is a capability)    -   Subband switching (dynamic frequency switching among subDLBW        and/or subULBW)    -   Cross-subframe scheduling    -   EPDCCH    -   PDCCH-less PDSCH reception    -   Relaxed UE measurement/feedbacks

From the network perspective, if all these are supported, there may bedifferent UE types as follows.

-   -   TM reduction only    -   BW reduction only    -   BW reduction+TX power reduction only    -   BW reduction+CE (where the CE requirement level is less than 15        dB from both

DL and UL perspective)

-   -   BW reduction+TX power reduction+CE (where the CE requirement        level is less than 15 dB from the UL perspective)    -   BW reduction+TX power reduction+CE (where the CE requirement        level is less than 15 dB from the DL perspective, and higher        from UL perspective)

The network may have the flexibility to support any mode or any typeshown above.

Furthermore, in terms of the CE level, further flexibility to supportless than 15 dB from either DL or UL may be considered. The network maysignal its capability among those (potentially with CE level itsupports—DL and UL separate signaling may also be feasible) in SIB suchthat a UE can determine the network capability. When each mode issupported, the followings may be required to be supported from thenetwork for each mode in terms of initial access.

(1) Category 0 support: SIB-1 may indicate whether the network supportscategory 0 UE. Unless other things are configured, a UE may assume thatthe network at least support category 0. For this, Rel-13 network whichsupports a low cost may support category 0 specified in Rel-12. Otherfeatures may be treated as capability.

(2) BW reduction only: Since a UE needs to inform the network aboutreduced BW, it is desirable to use different PRACH resource. Thus,separate PRACH configuration or dedicated preambles may be used for MTCUEs. This may be indicated by the network via PBCH (additional field) ornew PBCH or via the detection of a new SIB which is designed to supportreduced bandwidth UEs.

(3) BW reduction+TX power reduction only: Since TX power reduction UEmay require certain repetition of the PRACH, it may require thesignaling from the network that the network supports repeated PRACHtransmissions. If a UE does not require PRACH repetition even withreduced power, it may behave as option 2 (BW reduction only). If a UEneeds PRACH repetition, since the UE needs to inform the necessity of CEand the PRACH repetition, the network may configure a separate PRACHconfiguration or resource from a BW reduction only UEs. This may beindicated by the network via PBCH (additional field indicating supportof UL CE) or new PBCH or via the detection of a new SIB, which isdesigned to support reduced bandwidth UEs and also includes additionalPRACH configuration to support PRACH repetition (which may be separateconfiguration or dedicated preambles). This UE may be associated withthe network which supports option 4 (5 or 6) if the CE is needed and thenetwork may not support option 2 but support option 4 (or 5 or 6).

(4) BW reduction+CE (where the CE requirement level is less than 15 dBfrom both DL and UL perspective): Since this UE requires repetition forboth DL and UL, the network may need to indicate the capability of thenetwork to allow repetition in both directions along with CE level. Forthis, separate PRACH (maybe separate from option 3) may be needed interms of PRACH configuration or preambles. This may be indicated by thenetwork via PBCH (additional field indicating support of UL/DL CE) ornew PBCH or via the detection of a new SIB, which is designed to supportreduced bandwidth UEs and also includes additional PRACH configurationto support PRACH repetition (which may be separate configuration ordedicated preambles). This UE may be associated with the network whichsupports option 5 (or 6) if the CE is needed and the network may notsupport option 4 but support option 5 (or 6).

(5) BW reduction+TX power reduction+CE (where the CE requirement levelis less than 15 dB from the UL perspective): It is similar to option 4.

(6) BW reduction+TX power reduction+CE (where the CE requirement levelis less than 15 dB from the DL perspective, and higher from ULperspective): It is similar to option 4. Between options 5 and 6, themaximum CE level supported by the network for DL and UL (or separate)may be transmitted via SIB or RAR or other higher layer signaling.

(7) CE only+category 0: If a category 0 UE needs CE, it may requireindication from the network which supports CE for category 0. Inaddition to signal of supportability on category 0, it may also needindication of supportability on CE and potentially along with themaximum CE level that the network supports. Additional configuration toenable CE such as the source for PRACH repetitions may be signaled.

(8) CE only: For a normal UE (other than category 0 or MTC UEs), thenetwork may support CE only. In this case, SIB may carry thesupportability of CE as well as the necessary configuration for CEoperation. For a normal UE, a UE may signal the capability of supportingcoverage enhancement.

For each option for each case, a UE may signal a set ofcapabilities/modes that the UE supports via higher layer signaling.

Handling of low control signal and data, and accordingly, change of RBgranularity according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. In general, the size of control signal and data for a MTC UEis very small. Thus, current frame structure and/or RB allocation seemstoo much for a MTC UE. Thus, smaller granularity of RB allocation may beconsidered. One example is to allocate 0.5 PRB (from legacy UEperspective) as a MTC-PRB. Thus, in 1.4 MHz system bandwidth, for a MTCUE, there may be totally 12 MTC-PRBs instead of 6 MTC-PRBs. Thescheduling granularity for a MTC-UE which requires reduced bandwidth maybe based on 6 subcarriers and 14 (or less than 14) OFDM symbols.Further, PRB granularity reduction in time domain may also beconsidered. For example, scheduling may be separate for the first slotand second slot.

In general, lower granularity for PRB mapping for a MTC UE may beconsidered.

This may be used for EPDCCH set configurations, PDCCH mapping, and datascheduling. The same principle may be applied for UL scheduling as well.If this is used, enhanced resource element group (EREG) mapping may needto be changed. Also, transport block (TB) size determination may bechanged where a simple rule may be applied to (TB size for a MTC UE=TBsize from the current specification*0.5 (as only the half PRB is usedfor delivering PDSCH)) or (TB size for a MTC UE=TB size from the currentspecification*0.25 (if one PRB is spilt to four MTC-PRBs for a MTC UE)).The mapping of demodulation RS (DM-RS) may become a bit challenging aswell channel state information RS (CSI-RS) resource mapping. Thus, forresource mapping, it may be assumed that the MTC UE follows legacy PRBmapping. For DM-RS, a MTC UE may assume that at least two split MTC-PRBare used in case DM-RS is used. Thus, MTC-PRB may be usable better withEPDCCH based on CRS rather than DM-RS.

Network assistance for handover for UEs requiring CE according to anembodiment of the present invention is described. For a UE requiring CE,it is expected that all channels including PBCH may be repeated tosupport CE. To minimize spectral efficiency degradation, cell broadcastchannels such as PBCH may be likely to be repeated intermittently ratherthan continuously. When a UE boots-up, since the information is notavailable from any cell, a UE may have to blindly search intermittentlyretransmitted/repeated PBCHs for a cell. However, once a UE isassociated with a cell or camp on a cell, the network assistance toinform the rough location of intermittent PBCH transmission may beconsidered. Not only PBCH but also other necessary information requiredto support UEs requiring CE, such as SIB, may be transmitted withintermittent PBCH transmission. For example, if the network transmitsrepeated PBCH once every 1 hour where intermittent SIB transmissions mayoccur as well, initially, for a UE to search a cell by reading PBCH, itmay take up to 1 hour as the UE does not know when the intermittenttransmission would occur.

However, if a cell is associated or camp on any cell, it may acquire therough timing information, and then, the cell may transmit timinginformation of neighbor cells where intermittent PBCH/SIB (andpotentially other information as well) transmission may occur to supportUEs requiring CE. This may be signaled by SIB of the camp-on orassociated or serving cell. In other words, the rough information oftime (potentially frequency location as well) location of intermittenttransmission of necessary system information and MIB of a neighbor cell(both inter and intra-frequency cells may be considered for thisassistance) may be indicated via one cell. Even though a cell may notsupport CE, it may still transmit the information of neighbor cellswhich support CE. Alternatively, it may be assumed that rough timing ofintermittent transmission of system information among neighbor cells isaligned. If a UE detects intermittent transmission from one cell, it maybe able to assume that neighbor cells also transmit intermittentrepetitions as well. In this case, indication from the serving cell ontiming for intermittent transmission may be sufficient.

More specifically, the timing information may include offset andinterval where offset may be determined based on SFN of the cell whichtransmits assistance information (e.g. camp-on cell or serving cell) andit may indicate the starting (rough timing) timing of intermittenttransmission. Interval is the period between two intermittentrepetitions.

Also, this information at least signaled at hand-over from one cell toanother cell may assist the quick acquisition of system information.

Since the network maximum CE level may not be sufficient for a UEdepending on its location and the required coverage level from a cell,it is also desirable to indicate the maximum CE level that neighborcells support via assistance information. For example, a list of cellswhich supports MTC UE may be signaled along with the maximum CE levelthat the cell supports. If the cell does not support CE, maximum CElevel may be set as 0 dB. In terms of measurement reports, a UE maydetermine the list of cells which the UE may be associated with, andthen report to only those cells. For example, if signal to interferencenoise ratio (SINR) is −16 dB from a cell (and thus, CE of at least 10 dBis needed from the cell) and the cell supports only 2 dB enhancement,the UE may not report measurement result of the cell to the servingcell, as it may not be feasible to be handed over to that cell. Anotherapproach is to transmit measurement results where the threshold may belowered considering potential CE gain and the network may determine thetarget cell for hand-over. In terms of maximum CE level, the network mayalso set a RSRP threshold which the network can support. If a UE cannotacquire RSRP higher than the threshold, the UE may assume that the cellis barred for the access.

To configure the assisted information, those information need to beexchanged via backhaul signaling among cells.

RACH procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. When a UE transmits PRACH, it may select a resource which isuniquely assigned to each CE level. To differentiate between a MTC UEwith UL power reduction and a MTC UE without UL power reduction, andalso a MTC UE with a normal UE supporting CE, some resource separate maybe necessary. There may be possibly three different types of UEs asfollows.

(1) Type 1: A MTC UE (reduced bandwidth) with reduced UL power

(2) Type 2: A MTC UE (reduced bandwidth) without reduced UL power

(3) Type 3: A normal UE (not reduced bandwidth) without reduced UL power

In terms of RAR reception, type 1 and type UE may not be needed to bedifferentiated. The capability of bandwidth may be signaled via message3 for type 3, different from type 1. In terms of differentiation betweentype 1 and type 2, which defines possibly different number ofrepetitions, the following alternatives may be considered.

-   -   Repetition number may be defined per type 1 where type 2/3 are        allowed to be transmitted with only reduced number of        repetitions. For example, for CE level 5dB, repetition number        for PRACH may be determined as 20 times where type 2/3 may        transmit with less number of repetition such as 10. In this        case, the network may be supposed to perform blind decoding.    -   Type 1 and type 2/3 may be differentiated based on preamble        where type 2/3 may take smaller number of repetitions or take        the same number of repetitions    -   Different resource for type 1 and type 2/3 may be defined.    -   For another approach to handle multiplexing between different        maximum UL power, it may be restricted that a normal UE without        UL power reduction may also use the lower power assuming UL        power reduction if multiplexing is allowed. In other words,        until a normal UE is attached to the network, it may behave as a        MTC with UL power reduction. This may be achieved via setting        PEMax as the UL power reduction such that a normal UE cannot use        its configured maximum power. Another approach is to simply        restrict the normal UE from utilizing the configured maximum        power.

Differentiation between type 2 and 3 may be further considered wheretype 2/3 may be differentiated via different preamble or resources interms of time/frequency.

Once the network receives PRACH repetition, it may determine therepetition level required for RAR. In terms of RAR repetition number,there may two approaches as follows.

(1) A UE may assume a constant repetition number which is determinedbased on PRACH CE level. For example, if PRACH uses 5 dB CE level, RARmay also be transmitted using 5 dB CE level.

(2) A UE cannot assume a constant repetition number. In this case, a UEmay need to blindly search the repetition numbers of RAR.

Regardless of which approach is used, resource pool where RAR istransmitted may be defined at least before USS narrow-band is configuredas follows.

(1) A set of separate resource pool may be defined per CE level: Eitherdifferent narrow-band and/or time may be defined for different CE level.In this case, if the second approach described above (repetition numberis not fixed) is assumed, a UE may need to blindly search the number ofrepetitions. Another approach is to restrict the blind search candidatesof repetition levels such that repetition number=K is defined for the CElevel that PRACH has used, then a UE needs to blindly search K/2 and2*K. The network may always transmit to 2*K repetition level where theUE reports the successful decoding repetition number in message 3 suchthat the network can know the required repetition number for DLtransmission. Furthermore, the repetition number for message 3 maydetermine according to PRACH (coarse granularity) or according to RAR.RAR may indicate the required number of repetitions for message 3.

(2) A common resource pool may be used where the RAR is differentiatedby repetition number of RAR where repetition number corresponds to thePRACH CE level.

(3) A set of separate narrow-band may be defined per CE level where CElevel is determined by PRACH repetition level. The occasion of RAR ineach narrow-band may be further determined by M-PDCCH or narrow-bandoccasion configured either implicitly (derived from PRACH configuration)or explicitly.

(4) M-PDCCH may indicate the narrow-band where RAR PDSCH is scheduled.M-PDCCH for this purpose may be scheduled via dedicated CSS narrow-band.

Once a UE is configured with C-RNTI and configured with USS narrow-band,RAR may be transmitted from USS narrow-band instead of above mechanism.

For the case of normal coverage, resource pool of RAR may be determinedas follows.

-   -   M-PDCCH may indicate the narrow-band where RAR PDSCH is        scheduled.    -   A dedicated narrow-band may be configured either by SIB or        predefined, where RAR occasion is configured or implicitly        determined based on PRACH configuration.    -   Center 6 PRBs may always be used for RAR transmission where RAR        occasion may be determined based on RAR occasion configuration        or based on PRACH configuration.    -   Multiple CSS narrow-bands (NBs) may be configured.    -   Different CSS NB may be monitored per purpose (e.g. different NB        between paging and RAR).    -   Same NB may be used for CSS and USS when a UE is connected.

RAR windows size according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed.

If RAR is multiplexed in a narrow-band, the maximum RAR window size maybe defined as (maximum repetition number of RAR*maximum number ofpreamble). Starting subframe of RAR may be defined per ending subframeof PRACH transmission or starting subframe of PRACH. For example,starting RAR subframe may be (starting subframe+K+3), where K is thenumber of PRACH repetition number configured for a CE level. A UE maytransmit less number of repetition than K if a UE does not have UL powerreduction or some other reasons. In general, RAR window size may bedefined as (maximum number of repetition number of RAR*maximum number ofpreamble) used in a narrow-band where the UE expects to receive RAR. Ifa separate RAR narrow-band is defined per CE level, where maximum numberof repetition of RAR is different per CE level, different RAR windowsize may be used. Within a RAR window, the possible starting subframemay be defined as one of the following approaches.

(1) Per each maximum number of repetition: For example, if the samenarrow-band is shared among different CE levels or the UE is required toperform blind decoding on all CE levels, possible starting subframewithin a RAR window may be defined as (S+L*M), where S is the startingsubframe index of RAR window and L=0, ?, I, and M is the maximum numberof repetition number.

(2) If a UE is required to perform only one repetition number for RAR,(S+L*M′) may be starting subframes where M′ is the number of repetitionthat the UE expects.

PRACH resource according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. Currently, frequency location of PRACH may be determined byn_(PRBoffset) ^(RA) which defines the offset from the first PRB wherethe first PRB of PRACH resource can reside. Now that, it is consideredthat a set of narrow-bands may be used in both DL and UL. Thus, thelocation of PRACH transmission needs to be aligned with UL narrow-bands.Thus, the offset may be used rather 6 PRBs unit than a PRB unit. Forexample, n_(NBoffset) ^(RA) may be 0, 1, . . . where the PRACHnarrow-band is determined as narrow band 0 or narrow band 1, and so on.In terms of frequency location of PRACH, it may be determined asEquation 1 described below.

$\begin{matrix}{n_{NB}^{RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{n_{{NB}{offset}}^{RA} + \left\lfloor \frac{f_{RA}}{2} \right\rfloor},} & {{{if}f_{RA}{mod}2}\  = 0} \\{{N_{NB}^{UL} - n_{{NB}{offset}}^{RA} - \left\lfloor \frac{f_{RA}}{2} \right\rfloor},} & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.} & {< {Equation}1 >}\end{matrix}$

In other words, frequency location of PRACHs may be defined pernarrow-band in edge of system bandwidth excluding one or morenarrow-bands in the edge (which are used for legacy PUCCH or othertransmissions). If different frequency location is configured per CElevel, different f_(RA) value may be assigned per each CE level. Whenhopping is used, f_(RA)=0 may hop to the location of f_(RA)=5 (and viceversa), and f_(RA)=1 may hop to f_(RA)=4 (and vice versa). Or, offsetmay be used where f hops to {(f_(RA)+offset) % total number ofnarrow-bands used for PRACH}.

FIG. 7 shows an example of frequency location of PRACHs according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a case thatn_(NBoffset) ^(RA)=1 with hopping pattern of mirroring. Referring toFIG. 7 , NB_2, corresponding to f_(RA)=0, hops to NB_K−1, correspondingto f_(RA)=5.

It is generally desirable to transmit PRACHs in consecutive subframesassuming that PRACH resource is available in every subframe. However,due to possible collision with legacy PRACH, sounding reference signal(SRS), TDD, etc., it is desirable to configure a set of UL subframesusable for PRACH transmission. One approach is to use legacy PRACHconfiguration which defines the available set of subframes usable forPRACH where only starting subframe set is configured (a separateconfiguration is feasible per CE level). However, this approach mayreduce the gain from multi-subframe channel estimation and alsofrequency hopping. Thus, another approach is to create a PRACH resourceconfiguration rather based on a unit of multiple subframes whereconsecutive subframes may be used for PRACH transmission. For example,instead of using density within 10 ms, density per 100 ms (or some othervalue) may be used. For example, Table 1 shows an example of a framestructure type 1 (i.e. FDD) random access configuration for preambleformats 0 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

TABLE 1 PRACH System Configuration Preamble frame Subframe Index Formatnumber number 0 0 Even 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 1 0 Even 5, 6, 8, 9, 9 2 0 Even[0-9] 3 0 SFN % 5 = 0 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 4 0 SFN % 5 = 0 5, 6, 8, 9, 9 5 0SFN % 5 = 0 [0-9] 6 0 Any 0, 1, 2, 3

Similar to TDD, PRACH resource may be defined as a function of density(in a resource unit), where (f_(RA), f_(RA) ⁽⁰⁾, f_(RA) ⁽¹⁾, f_(RA) ⁽²⁾)may be used to indicate PRACH resource. f_(RA) may represent thenarrow-band location (logical where physical location may change perhopping pattern which is a cell-common pattern). f_(RA) ⁽⁰⁾ mayrepresent all radio frames, first K radio frame, second K radio framewhere K is pre-defined (e.g. K=5). In other words, instead of PRACHconfiguration length is fixed to 20 ms, it may be extended to, e.g. 100ms. Furthermore, different configuration set may be used per each CElevel, where PRACH occasion may occur more often in low CE levelcompared to high CE level. To change it, K may be configurable or fixedper CE level. For example, in LC, K=1, in low CE level, K=2, and in highCE level, K=5. f_(RA) ⁽¹⁾ may represent first half of subframes in eachradio frame or second half subframes in each radio frame configured byf_(RA) ⁽⁰⁾, f_(RA) ⁽²⁾ may define a set of starting subframe which maybe defined a multiple of repetition number, and thus, different valuemay be configured per CE level.

Table 2 and Table 3 show an example of a frame structure type 2 (i.e.TDD) random access configuration for preamble formats 0 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

TABLE 2 PRACH Density Per configuration Preamble K*10 ms Version IndexFormat D_(RA) r_(RA) 0 0 0.5 0 1 0 0.5 1 2 0 0.5 2 3 0 1 0

TABLE 3 PRACH configuration CE CE CE CE Index level 0 level 1 level 2level 3 0 (0, 1, 0, 2) (1, 1, 0, 1) (2, 1, 0, 0) (3, 1, 0, 2) 1 (0, 2,0, 2) (1, 2, 0, 1) (2, 2, 0, 0) (3, 2, 0, 2) 2 (0, 1, 1, 2) (0, 2, 1, 1)(1, 1, 1, 0) (1, 2, 0, 1) 3 (0, 1, 0, 2) (0, 2, 0, 1) (2, 1, 0, 0) (3,2, 0, 2)

Referring to Table 2 and Table 3, PRACH configuration index (0, 1) maybe used for FDM among CE levels, and PRACH configuration index (2, 3)may be used for FDM/TDM among CE levels. In other words, PRACHconfigurations for FDM/TDM may be configured among CE levels.

FIG. 8 shows an example of PRACH configurations for FDM/TDM among CElevels according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 8 , PRACH configuration for FDM/TDM is configured per each CElevel, e.g. CE level 1.

RA-RANI according to an embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. Currently, RA-RNTI is defined by Equation 2.

RA-RNTI=1+t_id+10*f_id   <Equation 2>

In Equation 2, t_id is the index of the first subframe of the specifiedPRACH (0≤t_id<10), and f_id is the index of the specified PRACH withinthat subframe, in ascending order of frequency domain (0≤f_id<6). TheMAC entity may stop monitoring for RAR(s) after successful reception ofa RAR containing random access preamble identifiers that matches thetransmitted random access preamble. However, considering that differentrepetition number may be used between MTC UEs with or without UL powerreduction, instead of utilizing the first subframe, it may use the endsubframe. Or, depending on its type, t_id (a UE with UL power reduction)or t_id*2 (for a UE without UL power reduction) may be used. In otherwords, RA-RNTI may be differentiated for different UE type. Furthermore,CE level that the UE used for PRACH transmission may also be considered.In this case, RA-RNTI may be defined by Equation 3.

RA-RNTI=1+t_id+10*f_id+CE_level   <Equation 3>

In Equation 3, t_id is the index of the end subframe of the specifiedPRACH. In other words, CE level and/or end subframe and/or differentnumber of repetitions used for PRACH transmission may need to beaccounted for RA-RNTI. Also, considering that RAR may not bemultiplexed, RA-RNTI may be different per preamble. Otherwise, a UE maynot stop monitoring RAR until it detects its corresponding RAR whichmatches to the preamble index that the UE has transmitted.

RAR message transmission according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is described. Assuming that RA-window has been extended, RARmay be transmitted per UE in a control channel format. In this case,backoff may not be used to make the size of RAR as same. RAR may betransmitted in a control channel If RAR is transmitted in a controlchannel format, it is desirable to have the same size between RAR andother control channel. Also, if control channel format is used forpaging, it is further desirable to have the same size between RAR andpaging.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a current RAR. Referring to FIG. 9 ,currently RAR includes R field, timing advance command field, UL grantfield and temporary C-RNTI field. However, UE ID used in paging has only16 bits. To align the size between two formats, it may be assumed thatthat UE IDs are repeated three times.

Another approach is to use the same size between paging and otherscheduling transmitted via non-UE-specific search space where RAR mayuse different size. Since it is necessary only for initial PRACHprocedure or UE-initiated procedure (PDCCH-order initiated procedure mayutilize only control information to carry the necessary informationwhere RAR may be omitted, however, timing advance (TA(may be necessaryand UL grant may also be necessary), different handling between two maybe further considered. In general, UL grant may be fixed in initialprocedure and temporary C-RNTI may be missed in PDCCH-order initiatedprocedure. In other words, UL grant may be preconfigured, or selectedaccording to either PRACH or RAR such that content of RAR may be reducedto be fit in the size of control channel. One simple approach is to fixthe narrow-band location of message 3 to reduce the resource allocationfield where the narrow-band used for PRACH transmission may be used formessage 3. However, PRACH subframes configured for potential PRACHtransmission in that narrow-band may not be used for message 3transmission. Another approach is to configure or prefix narrow-band ora set of narrow-bands which may be used for message 3. Since message 3may be transmitted over 1 PRB, instead of configuring multiplenarrow-bands, one narrow-band may be configured for message where PRB isselected by narrow-band index of PRACH transmission where (narrow-bandindex % 6) is used for PRB index of message 3.

If a network configures starting subframe sets for a set of repetitionlevels including maximum CE level that the network supports, RARstarting subframe may utilize those starting subframe sets where therepetition number and/or candidates of repetition number(s) may bederived from PRACH CE level. For example, when SIB indicates that thestarting subframe of control channel is every 100 ms, the UE may expectto receive RAR at the first starting subframe after the lasttransmission of RAR transmission+3 ms.

FIG. 10 shows an example a timing diagram according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 10 , starting PRACH subframesare configured, and from the starting PRACH subframe, RAR startingsubframes may be configured based on PRACH CE level.

Regarding message 3 transmission, similar to PRACH, the UE with andwithout UL power reduction may take different repetition level. Sincethe network may be able to differentiate between two UE types, message 3repetition level may be confirmed by the network via RAR.

Message 4 reception according to an embodiment of the present inventionis described. Message 4 may be transmitted in the same narrow-band whereRAR has been transmitted. Alternatively, message 4 may be transmitted ina different narrow-band which is defined by temporary C-RNTI. Therepetition level of message 4 may be defined by the repetition level ofRAR. Alternatively, message 4 repetition level may be blindly searchedvia searching multiple possible repetition levels. If a UE cannotidentify narrow-band for temporary C-RNTI, the same narrow-band whereRAR has been transmitted may be used. However, it may be good if thenarrow-band may be scheduled via RAR such that the UE can use thenarrow-band for message 4 reception. Nonetheless, a UE may use thedefault narrow-band which is defined by temporary C-RNTI until it isconfigured to use a different narrow-band for control channelmonitoring. In the default narrow-band, the cell-common configuredstarting subframe sets may be monitored for control channel reception.

FIG. 11 shows an example of timing and narrow-band fortransmission/reception for an initial access procedure according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11 , SIB istransmitted in NB_1, which is cell-common, and PRACH is transmitted inNB_1. Further, RAR is transmitted in NB_2, which is at USS, and message3 is transmitted in NB_1. Finally, Message 4 is transmitted in NB_3,which is configured as default USS.

In summary, this present invention proposes the followings:

-   -   Message 4/RAR may be transmitted or may start in a different set        of subframe from a set of starting subframes for control channel        scheduling data with C-RNTI and/or the repetition level        configured to a UE for control channel repetition. More        specifically, the UE may monitor more repetition levels for        message 4 and RAR or monitor multiple repetition level(s)        derived from PRACH repetition level.    -   The narrow-band used for RAR may be either fixed or associated        with PRACH transmission. The narrow-band used for message may be        either fixed or associated with temporary C-RNTI.    -   To allow transmission of RAR and paging in a control channel,        size of RAR and paging may be aligned with a scheduling DCI with        possible zero padding.    -   PRACH resource may be determined per narrow-band level rather        than PRB level.    -   Repetition number used by a UE without UL power reduction may be        smaller than by a UE with power reduction using the same CE        level. In other words, CE level may be defined by DL coverage.        To differentiate between two UE types, separate preamble may be        used. Alternatively, separate resource may be configured for        each UE type.

Further, for a UE to be able to receive and transmit DL and UL channels,at least one of the following configuration parameters may need to beconfigured to a UE either implicitly or explicitly.

(1) Cell-common configurations

-   -   Narrow-band configuration and frequency hopping patterns    -   PRACH resource(s) & PRACH configuration    -   RAR resource(s) & RAR configuration (if any)    -   Paging resource(s) & paging occasion configuration    -   Message 4 resources    -   ACK/NACK resource for message 4    -   CSS configuration (if any) including a set of starting subframes    -   Power settings (such as P0_PUCCH)    -   The set of subframes which may be used for MTC UEs (e.g.,        excluding MBSFN subframes)    -   Maximum CE level supported by the network

(2) UE-specific configurations

1) M-PDCCH related configuration

-   -   Common to normal coverage and enhanced coverage: Narrow-band        index (virtual or physical) where M-PDCCH may be monitored, PRB        set where M-PDCCH may be mapped (default value may be considered        for CE), M-PDCCH set (if multiple sets may be configured),        Localized or distributed (if both options are configurable)    -   For enhanced coverage: Repetition level or CE level and its        associated blind decoding candidates, starting subframe set

2) PUCCH related configuration

-   -   Resource mapping related parameters

Coexistence of non-UE-specific SS and USS in the same narrow-bandaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is described. Asmentioned above, there may be a narrow-band where CSS is monitored forcell common data transmission. This may be particularly useful in caseof normal coverage without repetition. Once a UE is configured with anarrow-band for USS, if the UE has to monitor different narrow-band forCSS, it may require a type of TDM between USS and CSS, which may beinefficient due to frequency retuning, and also TDM separation. Thus, itis desirable to consider monitoring CSS or non-UE-specific SS in thesame narrow-band where a UE monitors USS. In case of normal coverage,coexistence of two SSs may be easily achievable by configuring oneEPDCCH set for CSS and the other EPDCCH set for USS. For CSS,aggregations levels may be restricted and different hashing function maybe used. In case of CE, coexistence between two SS may have differentblind decoding candidates which may also have different repetitionlevels. For example, if reconfiguration is used to reconfigure CE levelof M-PDCCH transmission, or if paging is transmitted with non-fixedrepetition level for non-UE-specific SS, a UE may need to assume maximumrepetition numbers or more candidates of repetition numbers whereas theUE may need to monitor a limited number of repetition numbers for USS(e.g. one configured repetition level). To minimize blind decodingoverhead, TDM between non-UE-specific SS and USS may be furtherconsidered in CE.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for performing an initial accessprocedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S200, the MTC UE transmits a list of capabilities to a network.The list of capabilities may be transmitted via a random access preambleon a PRACH or a message 3 on a PUSCH. The list of capabilities mayinclude at least one of a power reduction, a bandwidth reduction, orcoverage enhancement. The MTC UE may support the bandwidth reduction andthe coverage enhancement.

In step S210, the MTC UE receives a reject message from the network whenat least one of the capabilities is not supported by the network. Thereject message may be received via a random access response or anacknowledge message for the message 3. A specific field in the randomaccess response may be set to a pre-determined value for the rejectmessage. A specific resource for the acknowledge message may be reservedfor the reject message.

Further, the MTC UE may receive a set of capabilities from the networkvia a MIB or a SIB. The set of capabilities may be represented as abitmap in which each bit indicates whether a specific capability issupported or not by the network. Further, the MTC UE may receive a SIBfor the MTC UE from the network before transmitting the list ofcapabilities. A location of the SIB may be changed based on apre-determined hopping pattern. The pre-determined hopping pattern maybe a subframe index based cell-common hopping or a radio frame indexbased cell-common hopping. The system information for the MTC UE may bereceived in a pre-determined subframe. The system information for theMTC UE may include at least one of a location of a dedicated subband ora PRACH configuration.

Signaling of usable downlink subframe for MTC UEs according to anembodiment of the present invention. Due to cell common datatransmission, MBSFN, etc., there are subframes usable for DL repetitionrestricted. In other words, full subframes may not be usable for DLtransmission for MTC UEs, even though a UE can read all subframes toacquire CRS. If CRS/DM-RS boosting may be used, a UE may not be expectedto read other subframes than configured DL subframes for MTC UEs. Oneexample is to configure MBSFN subframe like configuration where theindicated bits are assumed to be usable by a MTC UE (or reversely assumethose are not available). In this case, it may be assumed that non-MBSFNsubframes are usable by MTC UEs. Another example is to configure abitmap of size 10 (per radio frame) to indicate which subframes areusable for MTC UEs. If MBSFN subframe like configuration is used,restriction of UL subframes may not be easily doable. Another approachis to preconfigure a set of subframes, and SIB may indicate theconfiguration used by the network. For example, similar to PRACHresource, Table 4 shows the pre-configuration of a set of subframes.

TABLE 4 Available subframe System configuration frame Subframe Indexnumber number 0 Even [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] 1 Even [5-9] 2 Even [0-9] 3 Even[0, 1, 4, 5, 9] 4 Any [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] 5 Any [5-9] 6 Any [0-9] 7 Any [0,1, 4, 5, 9]

Even though this may restrict the flexibility of MBMS configuration, itmay signal both DL and UL. This may be configured in addition to MBSFNsubframe like configuration where a UE assume that only intersectedsubframes are usable for DL reception (for UL, this indication may beused in conjunction with DL/UL configuration).

When this is configured and message 3 is transmitted to the subbandwhere PRACH is transmitted, the UE may skip subframes configured forpotential PRACH transmission from the repetition. Also, when this isconfigured, the number of subframes in a radio frame may increase onlybased on this value.

FIG. 13 shows an example of cross-subframe scheduling and other timingin FDD according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13assumes that available subframe configuration index 7 described above isused. Referring to FIG. 13 , when control channel transmission ends atsubframe n, data transmission may occur at subframe n+k, where k is thenext available DL subframe counting 1 valid DL subframe. For UL, similarto DL, only valid UL subframes are counted for the timing. In case ofTDD, if all UL subframes are available, TDD PUSCH timing may be reused.Furthermore, a UE may be required to estimate the subframe where DLreception may occur and required to change the narrow-band locationbefore it needs to read data channel. Thus, in case that a UE isscheduled in NB_2, the second transmission of control channel may bereceived as the UE is required to switch its frequency before datareception. In other words, the gap may always be created right beforeactual transmission/reception, and in that way, the network mayschedule/utilize more narrow-band subframes. Furthermore, when more thanone control channel is transmitted consecutively, the UE may assume thatnarrow-band for data reception is also in the same narrow-band so thatfrequency retuning between two data reception is not required.Otherwise, the UE may ignore the second or latter scheduling.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for signaling usable DL subframesfor a low cost UE according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S300, the low cost UE receives information on usable DLsubframes for the low cost UE from a network. The information on theusable DL subframes may include a subframe configuration where indicatedbits corresponds to the usable DL subframes. The usable DL subframes maybe non-MBSFN subframes. Or, the information on the usable DL subframesmay include a bitmap which has a size of 10. Or, the information on theusable DL subframes may include a pre-configuration of the usable DLsubframes. The information on the usable DL subframes may be receivedvia SIB. A number of subframes in a radio frame may increase accordingto the pre-configuration of the usable DL subframes.

In step S310, the low cost UE performs reception by using the usable DLsubframe from the network. The performing reception comprises receivinga control channel at a first usable DL subframe, and receiving a datachannel at a second usable DL subframe, which is a next usable DLsubframe of the first usable DL subframe. The next usable DL subframemay count one valid usable DL subframe.

FIG. 15 shows a wireless communication system to implement an embodimentof the present invention.

An eNB 800 may include a processor 810, a memory 820 and a transceiver830. The processor 810 may be configured to implement proposedfunctions, procedures and/or methods described in this description.Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in theprocessor 810. The memory 820 is operatively coupled with the processor810 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 810.The transceiver 830 is operatively coupled with the processor 810, andtransmits and/or receives a radio signal.

A MTC UE 900 may include a processor 910, a memory 920 and a transceiver930. The processor 910 may be configured to implement proposedfunctions, procedures and/or methods described in this description.Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in theprocessor 910. The memory 920 is operatively coupled with the processor910 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 910.The transceiver 930 is operatively coupled with the processor 910, andtransmits and/or receives a radio signal.

The processors 810, 910 may include application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processingdevice. The memories 820, 920 may include read-only memory (ROM), randomaccess memory (RAM), flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/orother storage device. The transceivers 830, 930 may include basebandcircuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments areimplemented in software, the techniques described herein can beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored inmemories 820, 920 and executed by processors 810, 910. The memories 820,920 can be implemented within the processors 810, 910 or external to theprocessors 810, 910 in which case those can be communicatively coupledto the processors 810, 910 via various means as is known in the art.

In view of the exemplary systems described herein, methodologies thatmay be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter havebeen described with reference to several flow diagrams. While forpurposed of simplicity, the methodologies are shown and described as aseries of steps or blocks, it is to be understood and appreciated thatthe claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the steps orblocks, as some steps may occur in different orders or concurrently withother steps from what is depicted and described herein. Moreover, oneskilled in the art would understand that the steps illustrated in theflow diagram are not exclusive and other steps may be included or one ormore of the steps in the example flow diagram may be deleted withoutaffecting the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

1.-15. (canceled)
 16. A method performed by a user equipment (UE)configured to operate in a wireless communication system, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a network, a system information block (SIB)comprising a set of physical random access channel (PRACH) resources;and transmitting, to the network, a PRACH preamble based on a PRACHresource related to an uplink coverage enhancement level in the set ofPRACH resources, wherein the uplink coverage enhancement level isdetermined based on i) a reference signal received power (RSRP) for atleast one reference signal received by the UE, and ii) a differencebetween a first maximum power and a second maximum power, and whereinthe first maximum power is a maximum power of the UE, and the secondmaximum power is a maximum power other than the first maximum power. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein the PRACH preamble is transmitted basedon a number of repetitions.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein thedifference between the first maximum power and the second maximum poweris 15 dB.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein a resource for the PRACHpreamble is separately configured from a resource for a PRACH preamblefor one or more other UEs.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the UEperforms communications based on a bandwidth of 6 resource blocks (RBs).21. The method of claim 16, wherein the second maximum power is amaximum power of one or more other UEs.
 22. The method of claim 16,further comprising obtaining the RSRP for the at least one referencesignal based on measuring the at least one reference signal.
 23. A userequipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless communication system,the UE comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processorand storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at leastone processor, perform operations comprising: receiving, from a network,a system information block (SIB) comprising a set of physical randomaccess channel (PRACH) resources; and transmitting, to the network, aPRACH preamble based on a PRACH resource related to an uplink coverageenhancement level in the set of PRACH resources, wherein the uplinkcoverage enhancement level is determined based on i) a reference signalreceived power (RSRP) for at least one reference signal received by theUE, and ii) a difference between a first maximum power and a secondmaximum power, and wherein the first maximum power is a maximum power ofthe UE, and the second maximum power is a maximum power other than thefirst maximum power.
 24. The UE of claim 23, wherein the PRACH preambleis transmitted based on a number of repetitions.
 25. The UE of claim 23,wherein the difference between the first maximum power and the secondmaximum power is 15 dB.
 26. The UE of claim 23, wherein a resource forthe PRACH preamble is separately configured from a resource for a PRACHpreamble for one or more other UEs.
 27. The UE of claim 23, wherein theUE performs communications based on a bandwidth of 6 resource blocks(RBs).
 28. The UE of claim 23, wherein the second maximum power is amaximum power of one or more other UEs.
 29. The UE of claim 23, theoperations further comprising obtaining the RSRP for the at least onereference signal based on measuring the at least one reference signal.30. A base station (BS) configured to operate in a wirelesscommunication system, the BS comprising: at least one transceiver; atleast one processor; and at least one memory operatively coupled to theat least one processor and storing instructions that, based on beingexecuted by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a system information block (SIB)comprising a set of physical random access channel (PRACH) resources;and receiving, from the UE, a PRACH preamble based on a PRACH resourcerelated to an uplink coverage enhancement level in the set of PRACHresources, wherein the uplink coverage enhancement level is determinedbased on i) a reference signal received power (RSRP) for at least onereference signal transmitted by the BS, and ii) a difference between afirst maximum power and a second maximum power, and wherein the firstmaximum power is a maximum power of the UE, and the second maximum poweris a maximum power other than the first maximum power.
 31. The BS ofclaim 30, wherein the PRACH preamble is received based on a number ofrepetitions.
 32. The BS of claim 30, wherein the difference between thefirst maximum power and the second maximum power is 15 dB.
 33. The BS ofclaim 30, wherein a resource for the PRACH preamble is separatelyconfigured from a resource for a PRACH preamble for one or more otherUEs.
 34. The BS of claim 30, wherein the UE performs communicationsbased on a bandwidth of 6 resource blocks (RBs).
 35. The BS of claim 30,wherein the second maximum power is a maximum power of one or more otherUEs.